Container fields, excel & file size

[DeborahW]

Hello,

I tried to search for an answer here but I probably was not using the correct terminology so my apologies if this has been answered somewhere....

I have a small, quick and dirty (flat) file with 29 records. There are three container fields. One holds a picture. The pictures are usually around 500 K to 1 MB. These are pictures that I did not create and I don't have a lot of graphics capabilities on my computer (or much experience in that area). The other two container fields are for multiple sheet Excel files which are on my computer (but that I likewise did not create). The only way I could find to get these Excel files into the DB was to drag them into the container fields.

Most of the records have a picture but only two of them use both of the "Excel" container fields. The Excel files are also 500 K to 1 MB. I would have preferred to simply have a link to the Excel files but could not find a way to do that. I'm assuming that this would yield a smaller file.

The issue is the file size. It is currently about 348 MB. This is a problem as it takes a long time to open or save (back up). I noticed that simply having the container fields, before they were populated with anything, caused the file size to increase dramatically (about 10 MB per field). Is this expected? Is there any way to reduce the file size while still having these fields?

What I am aiming for is a quick, searchable DB where I can instantly pull up all the information in the Excel files without digging through the folders on my computer.

I suspect that in a newer version there may be a "better way" (isn't there always?) but I'm sure that isn't in the budget (not my company or decision).

Thanks very much in advance for any help.

Deborah

[bcooney]

You can insert a file into a container as a reference. Right click on the container field, and select Insert File. In the Insert File dialog, check "Store only a Reference".

However, if the file is moved, FM won't automatically relocate it and the connection will be broken. You will need to manually update the path to the file.

File size of 348MB really isn't that big. If you are truly using FM7, you should upgrade. FM7 had many bugs that were fixed.

FM will not search within your Excel files. I'm assuming you realize that. However, you can add a field for Keywords and FM can search that.

[DeborahW]

[color:black]Thanks for your reply. I think I tried to insert as a "reference only" and my recollection is that it wouldn't let me browse far enough. The files are nested rather deeply. I'll have to try it again when I'm at work.

[color:black]348 MB may not be that large but I'm going by how long it takes to work with (opening, etc.). And, there are only 29 records so far. I anticipate having about 150 - 200 per year. I have another DB that has thousands of records and several related tables (only one container field, though) and I think it comes in at well under 20 MB.

[color:black]The reason I want to reference the Excel files is that since they themselves are not searchable (across the many individual worksheets) I need a quick and searchable reference database where I can find a particular sheet by number/name or other quality and then be able to open up the detailed information stored in the Excel file.

[color:black]As I said before, upgrading FM is not an option at this time; neither is any sort of system upgrade. I have to work with what I have. I had to work on these people for almost a year just to get FileMaker at all.

[color:black]BTW, this is on a Windows (XP) machine. The forum keeps changing the platform to Mac which is what I have at home.

[color:black]Thanks again very much for your help.

Tue Aug 18 2009 12:58 AM - Post#338585 - Post Rank:

In response to DeborahW

You can insert a file into a container as a reference. Right click on the container field, and select Insert File. In the Insert File dialog, check "Store only a Reference".

However, if the file is moved, FM won't automatically relocate it and the connection will be broken. You will need to manually update the path to the file.

File size of 348MB really isn't that big. If you are truly using FM7, you should upgrade. FM7 had many bugs that were fixed.

FM will not search within your Excel files. I'm assuming you realize that. However, you can add a field for Keywords and FM can search that.

[bcooney]

"it wouldn't let me browse far enough". This is a standard File Open-type dialog using a call to the operating system. There is no limit on which directories you can access.

[DeborahW]

[color:purple]OK, so now it worked....not sure what I did differently. Thanks for your help and encouragement....maybe that's all I needed.